Ducks' defense decisive difference

EUGENE -- Dennis Erickson leaned back against the wall of the tiny interview room adjacent to Arizona State's locker room as reporters crowded around him.

"People have put aside their defense because of all the stars they have offensively," the ASU coach said. "They have an awfully good defensive team."

On this game, on this night, give Oregon's defense the credit for a 35-23 victory that kept the Ducks squarely in the national championship picture.

Oregon took the punch out of a running game the Sun Devils had used to pound their first eight opponents into submission. Then, with Arizona State in must-pass situations, the Ducks brought the house.

As the game went on, it became more and more perilous to be ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter. When he tried to pass, he often had three options: dodge the rush and throw on the run, throw before he was ready, or go down beneath an avalanche of green jerseys.

The fourth-ranked Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pacific-10 Conference) sacked him nine times, intercepted him once and disrupted the rhythm of Arizona State's offense throughout.

The No.6 Sun Devils (8-1, 5-1) rolled into this game having outscored their opponents in the second half 153-29 as defenses wore down and buckled. This time, the second half belonged to the Ducks.

"They have a couple of blitzes where they bring pretty much everybody," ASU center Mike Pollak said. "We didn't see any looks we didn't practice. We just didn't execute.

"They're definitely faster than the guys we've seen before. But we've seen the looks before in practice. It just comes down to execution."

There always are two ways to look at it. Maybe the Sun Devils couldn't execute, because the UO defense made it more difficult than it was in practice.

The trend began in the first quarter, when the Sun Devils set up, first and goal at Oregon's 3-yard line. The Ducks stoned them on three consecutive running plays, forcing Erickson to settle for a field goal.

With Oregon leading 21-10 in the second quarter, the Sun Devils twice got inside the UO 20. The first time, on third and nine from the 17, Carpenter rushed a throw as the blitz converged, and Arizona State settled for another field goal by Thomas Weber.

Just before the end of the half, Cole Linehan and Nick Reed threw Dimitri Nance for a two-yard loss on an off-tackle play from the UO 13. That forced another field goal attempt. This time, Weber shanked it.

And so it went. Sure, the Sun Devils piled up 489 yards total offense, 379 through the air. But those kind of statistics are like cotton candy -- big and impressive at first glance, but ultimately empty. You would starve on a cotton candy diet.

When the Ducks needed to make something happen, the defense obliged. Reed had five tackles for loss, Will Tukuafu had three. Willie Glasper short-circuited one ASU drive by recovering Tyrice Thompson's fumble, and Walter Thurmond ended another by intercepting Carpenter in the UO end zone.

Every defensive play was important, because Oregon stuttered offensively after scoring three quick first-quarter touchdowns. Wide receiver Jaison Williams suffered though a case of the dropsies, Dennis Dixon had moments of indecision on his option reads, and Jonathan Stewart didn't crack the 100-yard barrier.

It happens. No offense, no matter how explosive or well-designed, always works. If the Ducks plan to be a Bowl Championship Series factor, they need both sides of the ball.

It's probably not going to get any easier. Oregon's next two games are away from Autzen Stadium's noisy bedlam, against resurgent Arizona and an inconsistent UCLA team that seems to rise to the level of the competition.

"They've got to go on the road a couple of times, too," Erickson said. "Offensively, they're one of the better teams I've seen. And, as I said, defensively they're pretty darn good, too. We'll see what happens. There are a lot of games left for them, too."

Well, three in the regular season, to be exact.

The hunch here is, if the Ducks keep bringing their defense, they will be fine.